(CNN) – Police arrested members of an LGBT group on Thursday during a protest outside of House Speaker John Boehner's district office on Capitol Hill.

The activists who were handcuffed and taken into custody are affiliated with GetEQUAL action, the same lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization that disrupted the first lady's DNC event last week.
The LGBT group is demanding federal employment protection for gay, lesbian and transgendered workers and is calling on Boehner to move forward with a vote on related legislation.

"We are somebody! We deserve full equality! Right here! Right now!" the group chanted outside Boehner's office in the Longworth House Office Building.

After several warnings, U.S. Capitol Police arrived with plastic handcuffs and removed the activists. Eight people were arrested, police said.

CNN spoke exclusively to the group as they gathered at a nearby hotel before marching to Capitol Hill.

Preparing for arrest, members of the group received legal counsel and even wrote an attorney's phone number on their skin with a marker before marching.

"We are here today because there are currently no federal workplace protections for LGBT folks in the United States of America, which we believe is wrong. If you live in a state where there are no protections you can literally be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered," said Ohio resident and Iraq War Veteran Sean Watkins.

"The president of the United States of America in 2008 promised us an executive order protecting federal contractors and anybody who does business with the federal government workplace protections for LGBT folks, he hasn't done that and continues to punt to Congress."

President Barack Obama hosted a LGBT Pride Month event on Thursday at the White House.

soundoff(90 Responses)

Anonymous

Fair is Fair

"There are a lot of things he said he'd do and hasn't done. We were going to be out of Afghanistan in 24 months, he was going to have gitmo closed in 18 months, and the list goes on and on."
-––
Ahhhhhhhhh... but the suckers bought it and voted for him not only once, but twice. So who's to blame?
=====================

When the party you represent brings dysfunction to a level not seen before politically, the only alternative left for you and others is to try and create havoc within the party you oppose? To be fair, you and like minded would be better spent trying to reunite your own membership/leadership.

June 14, 2013 09:32 am at 9:32 am |

saywhat

Way the Occupy movement was crushed should have given us a signal of things to come.

June 14, 2013 09:36 am at 9:36 am |

Fair is Fair

"When the party you represent brings dysfunction to a level not seen before politically, the only alternative left for you and others is to try and create havoc within the party you oppose? To be fair, you and like minded would be better spent trying to reunite your own membership/leadership."
-----–
Party I represent? I "represent" NO party. They BOTH suck. I just happen to believe the republicans are the lesser of 2 evils... at least right now. Both parties have been hijacked by the far fringes of their base.

June 14, 2013 09:47 am at 9:47 am |

Malory Archer

This isn’t about President Obama’s so-called “broken promise” – it's about Americans being arrested for exercising their first amendment rights in the halls of Congress. You all defend a guy who may have sold state secrets to the Chinese, calling him a hero and claiming he was just exercising his First Amendment rights, but refuse to acknowledge that a bunch of people were just handcuffed and dragged out of a facility owned by We the People for doing nothing more than protesting. Just like your vociferous defense of domestic spying during the previous occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue's 8-year reign of error and your freaking out over it now, this is another glaring example of the hypocrites you are.

For the record, I thought domestic spying was a problem during the previous occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue's 8-year reign of error, and I think it's a problem now. Only difference is now nobody's calling me every name in the book, accusing me of treason, suggesting that the government should use violence against "libruls" to teach them that they can be killed too, or suggesting that I should leave the country or be rounded up and sent to GITMO if I don't like it. Yeah, things are sooooo much worse now.

June 14, 2013 09:54 am at 9:54 am |

Anonymous

Fair is Fair

Party I represent? I "represent" NO party. They BOTH suck. I just happen to believe the republicans are the lesser of 2 evils... at least right now. Both parties have been hijacked by the far fringes of their base.
=====================

Before you first can convince others of the soundness of your opinions, you must first convince yourself. Your first mistake was to call yourself Fair is Fair. Your second mistake? To spend the past 5 years pretending not to be the hyprocrite your comments suggest you are.

June 14, 2013 10:00 am at 10:00 am |

Fair is Fair

"Before you first can convince others of the soundness of your opinions, you must first convince yourself. Your first mistake was to call yourself Fair is Fair. Your second mistake? To spend the past 5 years pretending not to be the hyprocrite your comments suggest you are."
------
THIS coming from someone who goes by "Anonymous"? Please... don't make me laugh.

June 14, 2013 10:15 am at 10:15 am |

saywhat

This nation was goaded by lies & propaganda and whipped by threats in the name of patriotism in the self destructive direction we still plod on, 11 years back.
We failed then to face the truth and are failing again by not letting our voices heard up on the Hill.

June 14, 2013 10:18 am at 10:18 am |

Steveo

@Malory Archer
This isn’t about President Obama’s so-called “broken promise” – it's about Americans being arrested for exercising their first amendment rights in the halls of Congress.
------------–
1. IF the president kept his promise, exactly why would there be a protest?
2. You felt the same way when anti abortion protesters were arrested?

If you felt the same way...good on you, if not, that makes you hypocritical

June 14, 2013 10:24 am at 10:24 am |

Malory Archer

Steveo

----–
1. IF the president kept his promise, exactly why would there be a protest?
2. You felt the same way when anti abortion protesters were arrested?

If you felt the same way...good on you, if not, that makes you hypocritical

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1. IF the Congress would get off their backsides and vote on something for the President to sign, there wouldn't have BEEN a protest.

2. Please provide ONE example of anti-choise protesters being arrested for doing nothing more than holding signs or shouting slogans in the halls of Congress. Oh wait – you can't because it never happened.

June 14, 2013 10:33 am at 10:33 am |

Steveo

@Malory Archer

1. I did not say ANTI CHOICE. I said ANTI ABORTION!l
2. Did the president not know he needed the Congress when he made the promise? That is te danger of anybody making campaign promises.
3. I said nothing about ANTI ABORTION protesters getting arrested in the halls of Congress. They have been arrested while protesting at ABORTION clinics!

June 14, 2013 10:44 am at 10:44 am |

Malory Archer

Steveo

1. I did not say ANTI CHOICE. I said ANTI ABORTION!l
2. Did the president not know he needed the Congress when he made the promise? That is te danger of anybody making campaign promises. – Never in the history of
3. I said nothing about ANTI ABORTION protesters getting arrested in the halls of Congress. They have been arrested while protesting at ABORTION clinics!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1. Tomatoes/Tomahtoes
2. Never in the history of the United States has any President EVER faced the blind rage and outright opposition from congress that President Obama has.
3. They were tresspassing on PRIVATE PROPERTY, or is that okay with you when it suits YOU agenda? Additionally, your comparing it to people being arrested in public property is what's known as a false equivalence, or creating a strawman.

June 14, 2013 11:05 am at 11:05 am |

Steveo

@Malory Archer,

Unfortunately, your point #2 has NOTHING To do with this story and is simply deflection. A promise was made. That is FACT! The promise was not kept, again FACT!

My argument is Not a strawman ESPECIALLY since sidewalks in FRONT of a clinic are not always private property.

Some are considered to be PUBLIC property as they are on the street! ! Yet I am agenda driven? You seem to add or delete info when it is to YOUR benefit! Yet we are to believe you have NO agenda? Really?

June 14, 2013 11:38 am at 11:38 am |

smith

do these people have jobs? or maybe even a life? Where is the proof of these claims?

June 14, 2013 11:42 am at 11:42 am |

Malory Archer

Steveo

@Malory Archer,

My argument is Not a strawman ESPECIALLY since sidewalks in FRONT of a clinic are not always private property.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

then prove it – provide ONE REAL EXAMPLE.

June 14, 2013 12:10 pm at 12:10 pm |

Steveo

@Malory Archer,

My argument is Not a strawman ESPECIALLY since sidewalks in FRONT of a clinic are not always private property.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

then prove it – provide ONE REAL EXAMPLE.
----------
I tried twice but I guess CNN does not like it. Research for yourself at Google or Bing! "anti-abortion protestors arrested". Really simple!